Enter: Freakazette!
by Magma Fyre
Summary: Daphne Donald was a normal high school track star and closet computer nerd until everything was changed by the Pinnacle Chip. How will things change for Freakazoid and Washington DC?
1. Chapter 1

Daphne waved back at her friend. "Bye, Mandy. Thanks for the ride!" The minivan pulled away from the curb and the track star shouldered her bag and trudged up her driveway. She had just gotten a Pinnacle Chip for her birthday, despite the recall. As she opened the door to her house, she remembered the scene from two days ago: her squealing in delight at finding the rare piece of hardware in her gift and rushing up the stairs to install it.

"'M home!" she shouted, dropping her bag on the ground next to the door.

"Don't leave your stuff lying next to the door!" her Mom called from the kitchen down the hall.

"Kay, Mom!" she shouted back and re-shouldered her bag before heading up he stairs. She entered her room and dropped the bag unceremoniously amid the piles of clothes and track gear before looking up to see her little brother using her computer.

"Billy!" her face turned beet red as she stormed across the room and lifted up the nine-year-old by the back of his shirt. "What are you doing in here?" she snarled through clenched teeth.

"Nothing!" he whined back, trying to squirm out of his older sister's grip. She hauled him out of her room and slammed the door in his face, locking it. Daphne paused and took a deep breath before investigating what he had done.

On the bright side, nothing was broken, sticky, or corrupted. On the down side, the internet was open and a string of nonsense was typed in: "[=g3,8d]\&fbb=-q]/hk%fg". She scowled at the screen and moved to press the "delete" key.

The moment she pressed the key, the world seemed to explode. Her body seemed to stretch and colors flashed and danced before her eyes as reality warped. She clutched her head as information poured in until she didn't think there was any more room, but it kept coming. The world spun faster and faster until finally coming to a halt. Daphne groaned and sat up, reassured to find herself in one piece.

"What just happened?" she asked out loud. Suddenly she jerked and her body warped to be replaced with a blue girl with black lightning in her blond hair.

"Hiya!" the blue girl said, chipper. Her body warped again and she was back to herself.

"Something is definitely not right." Daphne told herself, lurching to her feet and rushing to the bathroom.

F!F!F!F!

Dexter Douglas was reading a funny story in binary when Freakazoid felt a disturbance in his energy field.

_Hey Dex!_ he called to his alter ego. _Dex!_

_What?_ the boy asked.

_I just felt something weird with my energy field._

_Do you think it's Guitierrez again?_

_No, Roddy blocked him out._

_Do you want to check it out then?_

_Yes._

In reply, Dexter stood up from his chair and cried out, "Freak out!" The lanky teenage nerd was suddenly replaced with the superhero, Freakazoid, who zapped himself into Dexter's computer and into the Internet.

Unsurprisingly, Roddy MacStew was waiting for him.

"Hi, Roddy!"

"I assume you sensed the disturbance, laddie."

"I sure did. Do you know what it is?"

"That I do not, but I have every intention of finding out what it is." the Scotsman replied.

"Yay! You're coming with me!" Freakazoid prepared to zap away, following the disturbance.

"Ay, let us hope this is not a trap."

"Or poo gas." The blue boy made a face and zipped away with Roddy close behind. The pair stopped at a terminal, looking out through the screen. Seeing the posters on the walls and various items around the room, Freakazoid made a face. "Ugh! A girl's room!"

"Better tread carefully laddie. I have seen many frightening things in this world, but nothing is more terrifying than an angry woman."

"Yes sir!" Freak saluted and zapped out of the computer and across the room to the safety of the hallway. He heard strange noises to the inexperienced ear down the hall and motioned Roddy to follow him. He tiptoed quietly to what was apparently a bathroom. He pressed his ear to the door to hear a distressed girl talking to herself.

"Keep cool Daphne, you're just hallucinating from the shock you got from your computer."

"Pssst!" another voice chimed in.

"It's just your imagination, it's just your imagination-"

"Psst!"

"It's just your-"

"Hey!"

"Imagin-"

"Unzip your head!"

"What?"

"Unzip your head, like this!"

"Bwaaaah!"

At this point Roddy motioned for Freakazoid to knock. Freak gave his mentor a "are you sure" look, to which Roddy nodded.

Freakazoid knocked. "Are you alright?" The door flung open.

"Hiya!" a blue girl thrust her face towards his in greeting. She had blue skin and blond hair with black lightning. A goofy grin that was clearly familiar to both of the men was plastered on her face. She wore an outfit identical to Freakazoid's but for the fact it was the color blue. She caught both of them off guard.

Suddenly, she twisted and fell against Freakazoid, a normal girl wearing shorts and a T-shirt.

"What's going on?" she asked bewilderedly.

"Just calm down and we'll explain everything." Roddy told her.

Daphne nodded, hoping that they would make some sense of this.

F!F!F!F!

**Author's Notes**

This is my first fanfiction and my first story on this site, so please help me out if I screwed up anything. Also, please review. Please. I need it.

Also: the title is taken from the unproduced script which I couldn't find, so I made this up. The concept of Daphne came from one scene in the Freakazoid and Friends song showing a girl who looks just like Freakazette and looks like she would be in track.


	2. Chapter 2

"Lass, you've been given amazing powers, but you need to get them under control." Roddy told her just as she suddenly spun about and became the freak.

"Uh-huh! Hey, do you want to get a snow cone?" the blue girl asked animatedly.

Freakazoid jumped up, "Boy, would I! Let's go!"

"Stop!" Roddy called out, just as the blue pair were about to leave. "You can't go out and about while the lass is unstable. There is no telling what would happen! To do so would be asking to land yoursel's in very deep crud."

"Alright, Roddy." Freakazoid sighed and walked back into the room.

"Whoa!" Daphne suddenly turned back to her normal self.

"Now, Lass. In order to become the freak, say 'freak out.' To change back, say 'freak in.' You are gonna have to learn to control yourself if'n you are agoin to have a normal life. Try it." Roddy instructed.

_._ A constant stream cut through Daphne's head as Freakazette urged her to change.

_All right! Just be quiet for one moment!_ she snapped back.

"Freak out!" There was a sudden burst of light and once again there stood Freakazette.

"Yay! She said it! Now can we—" she was cut off by a distant scream for help.

"Did you here that? Duty calls!" Freakazoid leapt up and zapped away. Before Roddy could do anything to stop her, Freakazette followed.

"Crud." he stated simply then went back into the 'net.

F!F!F!F!

_What do you think of her?_ Freak asked Dexter as he zapped towards the cry.

_She's Daphne Donald. I had no idea she was into computers._

_But what do you think of Zette? She is a very lovely shade of blue…_

_We're dating Steff, remember._

_I know…._ Their conversation came to halt as the girl in question passed them.

_She is fast._

_Wow._ A second later, Freak stopped next to her, viewing the scene. Unsurprisingly, Steff was in danger. Cave Guy had her over his head and was threatening to throw her at some police cars.

"Steff!" Freakazoid cried out. He took a few steps back and took a running jump at Cave Guy, pulling Steff away from him and running up the wall behind. He gently deposited her on the rooftop. "Are you all right?" he asked, concerned.

"My hero!" she flung her arms around his neck.

"Don't thank me yet, Steff. Cave Guy is still down there." As if on cue, the screech of strained metal became apparent as Cave Guy scaled the fire escape to reclaim his hostage. Freakazoid spun around to confront him when a still unfamiliar voice called out.

"Hey, gorilla-breath! Over here!" The villain looked just in time to see a dumpster sailing over the rooftop and crash into him. Freakazette jumped over the gap between the two buildings to land on top of the dumpster covering the villain. She bent down to knock on it.

"Hello—o! Mister Cave Guy! Anybody home?" A deep growl resonated from the depths of the overturned dumpster as it began to shake. "Whoa! I guess so." She jumped down just before the dumpster rocketed away to reveal an extremely angry Cave Guy roaring his displeasure to the world. "Hiya!" the blue girl greeted him with an overly chipper wave.

"And just who might you be?" Cave Guy asked.

"I'm Freakazette! DC's newest hero."

"And I suppose you work with that buffoon over there?"

Zette thought on this. "Dunno. Haven't decided yet. Either way, you're going down."

"I highly doubt that. RAAAAAAH!" he roared as he swung his club at the girl. She zipped out of the way, reappearing behind him.

"Over here!" he swung again to her new position, only to find her several feet in another direction. "Now I'm here! No, here. Over here silly! Nope! Na-ah! Missed again!" she called out, moving each time he swung. "You're not very good at this, are you." she asked him sitting cross-legged on his head. Cave Guy growled and swung at her one more time, this time bonking himself in the head and knocking himself out when he missed. Freakazette stood before the unconscious Neanderthal and bowed. "Thank you, thank you!"

"Freakazette huh?" Steff asked her boyfriend accusatorily. "And just who might she be?"

"Honest, Steff! I don't know. I just met her a minute ago. I don't know her." he replied.

"Oh really."

"Really! C'mon, Steff. Now that Cave Guy is taken care of, why don't we go to Mike's and get some smoothies."

"Oh, all right." she conceded grudgingly as Freak picked her up bridal style and ran to the papaya stand.

F!F!F!F!

Freakazette tossed Cave Guy down to the cops below, Daphne quietly marveling at her strength as she looked on. She was much faster than Freakazoid, probably due to her natural speed from her track background, but not quite as strong.

_I still want a snow cone…._ Zette mused to Daphne before zipping to the nearest snow-cone stand and purchasing a lemon snow cone.

_It's getting late and I still have homework to do._ Daphne reminded her counterpart as she finished the treat.

_Oh, fine. I'll head ba—is that a pet store? I want to look at the kittens! lol._

_Freakazette!_

_Wha? Oh, right. Homework. I'm goin._ With much reminding from Daphne, Freakazette finally made it back to the house then snuck her way up to her room.

"Freak in!" Daphne got out her homework and began working on it. She was about half way through her math homework when her mother poked her head into her room.

"Hey, sweetie. You all right? I know your brother can be a pain. I heard a lot of noises earlier, but thought it was best to wait to check in on you until you had calmed down."

"I'm fine, Mom. I just spent a lot of time setting my computer to rights again."

"All right hon. Be down for dinner in twenty minutes."

"Kay, Mom." Daphne worked her way through the rest of her math homework and sat through dinner, commenting on things she had done early in the day, but not mentioning Freakazette, who was for once quiet, too busy observing her family to make much comment. After dinner, Daphne finished her homework then went to bed after some quiet conversation with Zette. Life had definitely gotten weird, but she had help from someone who had gone through it before and there was no way that a blue alter-persona was going to change much. Even if she still had no idea who Freakazoid really was.

F!F!F!F!

After treating Steff to a papaya smoothie and calming her down a bit, Freakazoid had walked her home, knowing that it would take a few days for her to really be okay with Freakazette. Honestly, it would take a few days for Dexter and Freak as well. They had been sure that the flaw wouldn't show itself again, especially after the recall, and the fact it occurred so close to home shook them a bit. They both agreed to keep an eye on Daphne at school the next day using Dexter's power: social invisibility.

F!F!F!F!

**Author's Notes**

Yay! Second chapter! Anyway, this was all up on my deviant art before so what is up is getting posted all at once. And, I have no idea where this is going. Plot suggestions would be most helpful. The main villain will either be the Lobe or Candlejack. And I might have misspelled Steff Steph at some point.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes**

First of all, I would like to thank Neo the Saiyan Angel for beta-ing and helping make this chapter a thousand times better than the last two. I also need to say that I own nothing owned by Warner Brothers.

* * *

Daphne woke with a start. Well, Freakazette woke Daphne with a start.

_Hey sleepy head, time to get up!_ the mental barrage began with much trumpeting and drums. And possibly some heavy metal and the more annoying ring tones.

_Gaaaah! What time is it?_

_Six A.M._

Daphne groaned and rolled over. _Please tell me its Saturday._

_No. It's Friday._

Daphne groaned again and sat up, rubbing her forehead. She had about an hour to get ready and get to school. With Zette's constant prodding, she rolled groggily out of bed and got dressed, then followed the scent of eggs, pancakes and bacon to the kitchen.

Her little brother already had spilled syrup over half the table and was currently attempting to break the world record for getting the stickiest over the course of one meal. Daphne sat at her usual chair where her mother had already set a plate and began serving herself from the food on the table.

"This looks great, Mom." she said, pouring the remaining syrup over her own pancakes.

"Thanks, Dear. Now hurry up, or you'll be late," her mother told her. Daphne obligingly started wolfing down her breakfast, but without getting sticky. She left her plate in the sink and started out the door as her father groggily half-tripped down the stairs.

"Bye!" she called before she began her walk to school. She lived about four blocks away, and walked or jogged every morning, depending on the amount of sleep she got. At school, she fell into her usual rhythm of bee lining to the bleachers to exchange homework answers with her friends.

"Hey guys!" she waved as she approached. Mandy, her best friend since kindergarten, was talking to Kristi, the girls' high-jump state champion. Jake was copying math homework from Alden, while Alden was copying Jake's history. The track team regularly copied each other's homework, especially the morning after or before a meet. The teachers didn't mind so long as the athletes honestly learned the material before any tests.

Mandy and Kristi waved back while the two boys continued working. About the same time, Troy jogged up and greeted everyone as well. Kristi smiled a bit at the javelin launcher and giggled conspiratorially a bit to Mandy, who gave Daphne the those-two-are-going-to-get-together look, but Daphne didn't notice. A shadowy look of concern flickered across Mandy's face, but she didn't say anything as Daphne pulled out her iPod and stared off into space, unnaturally oblivious to the unfolding drama.

"Hey, Troy," Kristi smiled and fluttered her eyelashes.

"Hi there." Troy grinned at her and moved over to the other boys, pulling out his English assignment for one of them to proofread. Kristi followed him and sat next to his bag.

"Need anyone to read that?" she asked. "I'd be more than happy to." Her voice was abnormally high and somewhat cutesy as she kept fluttering her eyelashes and swinging her arms.

"Thanks." Troy handed over the assignment and Kristi quickly read it through.

"You are _such_ a good writer. Maybe you could help me out sometime?" Kristi laid on the flattery as thick as possible as Mandy watched, enthralled.

"Yeah, maybe we could hang out after practice sometime." Troy answered, trying to be suave and friendly at the same time. Eventually, the bell rang and the group headed into school.

"Hey, are you free this Saturday? There's this awesome café I know about, want to hang out?" he asked.

Kristi shot a celebratory look to Mandy before answering. "Yeah, I'm free, come stop by my house around eleven?"

"Yeah." Troy tucked his hands into his pockets and veered towards his class, with Kristi tagging along. The other boys split off, leaving Mandy and Daphne to go to their first class.

Though she thought she wasn't acting differently, her best friend could tell something was up with Daphne. Mandy stopped her by their lockers as they ditched their after-lunch books and glared at her demandingly. "Okay, Daphne. Spill."

"Spill what?" she asked, bewildered.

"You know that I know that you know something that I don't," Mandy accused.

"What?"

"You've been weird since you got here, probably since before then. You were fine when I dropped you off yesterday, so what happened?"

"Nothing," Daphne said as she badly dodged the question.

"What kind of nothing?"

"My brother was just messing with my computer and it shocked me. I feel weird, but I'm fine."

"There is more to that story than you are letting on."

"Look. You won't believe me even if I told you everything."

"Uh-huh. Does it have anything to do with a boy?" her friend asked, skeptical of her answer.

"No. Uh-yes. No. Sort of."

"It's not that hard of a question," Mandy noted with eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"No. It has nothing to do with a boy."

"Then why are you so unsure?"

"It's complicated. But no, it has nothing to do with a boy _that_ way."

"Is said boy Jake?" the other girl asked with a mischievous smile.

"No. Look, I'll explain after school. Just come over to my house and I'll explain everything." Daphne said, trying to ignore the Jake comment.

"Fine. But don't expect me to give up on this."

"You never do," Daphne replied lightheartedly as they entered their first class. Dexter pushed his glasses up his nose and hurried off to his own class. Neither girl had noticed him, but he had heard every part of their conversation. The nerd knew that unless Freak talked to Daphne, pretty soon there might be more products of the Pinnacle Chip running around and causing havoc, and four was bad enough. The more people that knew, the more likely it would be for a villain to find a confessor and gain superhuman abilities. Also, girls are gossips and tell everyone they know everything they know.

Just before lunch, Dexter wrote out a note for Daphne to meet Freakazoid and stuck it in her locker. He then made his way to the most secluded and out-of-the-way place in the school: the stairs by the teachers' lounge. There were no major classrooms in that part of the building, and students avoided the teacher's lounge as much as possible because the notoriously strict vice-principal hung around there. He quietly changed to Freakazoid three minutes after the bell rang and waited for Daphne to show up. Every once in a while, a swell of classical music would make its way through the wall, but other than that and Freak's inanity held minimally in check by Dexter, all was quiet.

F!F!F!F!

Daphne opened her locker to collect her lunch and deposit her books and found the note.

_Daphne Donald-_

_Come to the staircase by the teacher's lounge during lunch. I have to talk to you._

_-F!_

"Oh, you know what? I forgot my book in class. I'll catch up with you guys later, kay?" Daphne told her friends, after reading the note while pretending to double-check her stuff.

"Alright. Catch you later." Mandy said and led the group to the cafeteria, shooting Daphne a you-are-so-telling-me-what-you're-doing-later look. She said something to Jake, but Daphne didn't see his reaction because she was already halfway down the hall. She speed-walked to the staircase in question to find Freakazoid using the handrail as monkey bars. Sideways. She fake coughed and the blue superhero stopped goofing around and acted like gravity was working normally again. He marched down the steps to her.

"You can't tell anyone. There is no way ever that you are going to tell anyone that you are Freakazette," he told her sternly, towering over her with his pointer finger less than an inch from her nose.

"Why not?" she complained, starting to go cross-eyed.

"Because the more people who know who you are, the easier it is for a villain to target your family. Trust me, it's not pretty. My family got kidnapped and shown a Marty Ingles tape just so I would tell him how to activate the flaw in the Pinnacle Chip! You can't tell anyone," Freakazoid whispered conspiratorially.

"But I need to tell someone!" Daphne protested. "I don't know how to deal with all this craziness otherwise. Besides, I promised Mandy I would tell her what is going on with me. I trust her not to tell anyone."

_It's not fair for us to hold out on her like this seeing as we told Cosgrove._

"Ooh! Nutbunnies!" he pouted as Dexter agreed with her.

"Fine, you can tell her you are Freakazette, but whatever you do, do not tell her how you became Freakazette. Got it?" he grudgingly consented to Dexter's prodding.

"Yes," she answered, slightly intimidated by his insistence. And with no further word, Freakazoid zapped away. Daphne shook her head quietly and walked to the cafeteria to rejoin her friends long enough to scarf down her lunch and reassure them that she found her book. While she ate, she wondered what was so bad about watching Marty Ingles perform. She certainly enjoyed it.

Dexter ate lunch outside by himself, save an odd little man staring at him from the bushes. The man was short and had very little hair and a very long nose and an impossibly wide grin. He stared blankly at Dexter without even blinking.

The rest of the school day passed without incident and Dexter and Freakazoid agreed that they would keep watching for how well Daphne kept up her promise over the next few days. He also left a note for Steff inviting her to go roller-skating with Freak and maybe have dinner that night, hoping that she would let the appearance of Freakazette blow over. During his last class, he fretted about her reaction some more, and Freakazoid was of absolutely no help. Whatsoever. All he did was just give a non-committal uh-huh whenever asked. Dexter grumbled a bit about this, but let it slide for the moment.

After class, he rushed to his locker hoping to find a reply. Steff had a study hall last class and would likely leave a note then. Needless to say, he was elated to find a note when he opened his locker.

_I'd love to go. Pick me up at five. ~Steff_

Dexter thanked the nerd gods of the universe, but Freakazoid oddly still had no comment, busy thinking about something, or perhaps someone else. This did not go unnoticed by his counterpart, but the teen wasn't in the mood to keep arguing.

Daphne felt Mandy's stares all through track practice, but any time she looked over, Mandy was talking to either Kristi, Jake or Troy. Her best friend obviously found waiting unbearable. Mandy never could contain her interest in whatever bit of gossip or news was to be found, and Daphne had told her _nothing_. At least she promised to tell her at some point. Until such a time, more important matters were afoot. Kristi needed help wooing Troy into a second date, and that would only happen if the first went well, which required _preparation_. Plans were to be discussed with Kristi and hints were to be dropped with Troy. The matters of matchmaking are never easy. Then, of course, was the matter of Jake and Daphne, but that would wait until she knew what was up with her friend and her talents were no longer required between Kristi and Troy. What _was_ up with her?

The walk to Daphne's house was quiet in anticipation, at least for Mandy. For Daphne, the walk was loud and frantic and worried and hectic and so many other adjectives. Freakazette was like a whirlwind, chattering incessantly and giving her a headache. Daphne was nervous about how Mandy would take it. Both girls were simply waiting for the moment when all would come clean and the tension would break.

"Mom! Mandy's here for dinner!" Daphne shouted as soon as she opened the door.

"'Kay, Hon!" her mother shouted back from some far-off corner of the house. The Donald household was not a quiet one. Members of the family wouldn't bother looking for each other to talk, favoring long-distance shouting to get their point across. The two girls climbed the stairs to Daphne's room and locked the door behind them with an audible click.

Mandy wheeled on her friend the moment the door locked, "Spill. Now."

"Okay, but first you should sit. This is some crazy shiz."

Mandy sat. "Try me."

Daphne took a big breath. "Would you believe me if I told you I met Freakazoid yesterday?"

"Sure," her friend shrugged.

"Would you believe he was here in my house?"

"No way," Mandy gasped, leaning toward Daphne with rapt attention.

"What I'm about to tell you is crazier than that," Freakazette's complement assured her friend. Getting a squee in reply, she continued. "First of all, Freakazoid was in my house last night. So was this angry Scotsman named Roddy MacStew. But they showed up _after_ the crazy thing happened."

"What on Earth could be crazier than Freakazoid and a Scotsman in your house?" the other girl asked doubtfully.

"Did you see the news last night?"

"What does that have to do with—?"

"Just answer the question."

"Yes. And?"

"Did you see the story about Cave Guy?"

"Yeah. He was robbing a jewelry store and was stopped by that new hero—uh—Freakazette." Mandy replied, struggling momentarily to place the name.

"Alright." Daphne took a calming breath. "I know who Freakazette is."

"No. Way. Who is she?" Mandy was suddenly on the very edge of her seat. By some miracle she wasn't tumbling to the ground.

"Freak out!" Daphne's body swirled into a vortex. When it stopped, Freakazette was in her place. "Me! Crazy huh? But you can't tell anyone or else bad things will happen. Like—frogs raining from the sky!"

The blue girl grinned psychotically at her counterpart's friend, waiting for any sort of reaction. Mandy's jaw dropped and her eyes bugged out as she stared at the blue heroine.

Freakazette couldn't resist and began waving a hand in front of the stunned girl's face. "Yoo-hoo! Anyone home? Or didja get the blue screen of death?" Unsettled by Mandy's suddenly quiet state, Daphne told Zette to change back so she could help her calm down.

"Freak in." The less energetic of the duo bit her lip in nervous tension. "You okay?"

Mandy nodded limply before slowly gaining some control. "How did this happen?"

Daphne was silent for a few beats, deciding on how much to tell her. "I'm not sure." It wasn't entirely a lie… but it wasn't the entire truth either.

"What're you going to do?"

"Well, I guess I'm just going to, you know," Daphne shrugged, "be a superhero." Mandy smiled at this.

"My best friend, the superhero," she said with pride. "What's it like?"

"Well, it's really weird. I say two words and turn into somebody entirely different who spends her entire day in my head and won't ever shut up." A few unrelated expressions crossed her face as Freakazette gave her the mental equivalent of a noogie. "And is insane. And, I know a ton of stuff I didn't before, some of which I would have preferred not knowing."

"Wow." Mandy sat back on the bed. "No wonder you've been acting weird."

"Yeah." Daphne shuffled her feet a bit and stared at the carpet. Mandy coughed and stared blankly at the wall for a moment, trying to think of something to say…

"Well, with all this drama, you missed a whole lot of even more exciting drama." she announced.

"Really? What happened?"

"Well…" Mandy launched into a long-winded description of what occurred between Kristi and Troy, which led to the pair conspiring like usual.

F!F!F!F!

Cosgrove pulled up next to the Freakmobile (isn't it toyetic?) and rolled down his window.

"Hey, Freak. Want to go go-cart racing?"

"Boy, would I!" Freakazoid instantly cried. He deflated after a few seconds and began pouting. "But I can't—I'm taking Steff roller-skating." Dexter gave the blue hero a mental elbow in the side.

"All right. See ya, kid." the cop drove away nonchalantly. Freak continued driving to his girlfriend's house, passing that odd little man again.

_I hope Steff won't be too mad about Freakazette showing up like that yesterday._ Dexter commented to Freakazoid.

_Yeah, she seemed pretty angry and I don't want to get slapped._

_Why would she slap you? _

_How should I know?_ Freakazoid answered, accidentally letting slip a few remembered images of Freakazette that he really shouldn't have been focusing on.

_Stop that. Right. Now. We're going on a date with Steff, remember?_

_Sorry._

_I won't be the one getting dumped if you screw this up._ Dexter reminded him._ Or at least I won't have to take the fall._

_Right. She's just so distracting!_

_She's probably your half-sister or something._ Dexter grumbled.

_How does that work?_

_You're both blue._

_It's a very lovely shade…_ Freak sighed.

_You had better be talking about Steff's hair or something._ Dexter threatened. Freakazoid was saved from replying when he pulled up to Steff's house right on time. He jumped out of the car and walked up to the door, ringing the bell incessantly until Steff opened the door, smiling at his antics.

"Hello, Freakazoid."

"Hiya Steff!" he said loudly as he gave her a hug. "Ready to go roller-skating?"

"Yup!" She let her boyfriend lead her to his "car" and open the door for her. Once seated, Freakazoid started the car and set off, somewhat less distracted by his female equivalent and more so by his girlfriend.

F!F!F!F!

In a nondescript gray building on a nondescript gray street, a nondescript grayish woman watched very unusual news. On the flickering television, a clip of a blue woman fighting a very large blue man played as the news anchor droned on, giving the public what little information about her was available. With interest, the woman listened, her mind working through the implications.

She paused the report on a close-up of the heroine and placed a hand to her face. Her last attempt in Washington was a failure, but perhaps a new face was exactly what she needed to take power. She stood and made her way into a back room and began to plot, mumbling in a monotone.

F!F!F!F!

"I would like my phone call!" Royce Mumphries called out from his holding cell indignantly. In reply, several guards came up to the cell, keys in hand.

"You won't need it. Your bail has been posted, Cave Guy." The guard unlocked the cell and led him out of the prison where, instead of Audrey as he had expected, a woman whose face he could not place waited for him. She led him to her car, a rather plain and nondescript model.

"Get in," the woman said in a strangely vacant tone.

"Thank you for getting me out of there, but who are you?" he asked her, not making any move to enter the vehicle.

"Someone who requires your services and won't hesitate to leave you here and find someone else with a grudge against Freakazette," she replied in a dull voice, starting the car to prove her point.

"Oh, in that case…" he got in the too-small car and fastened his seatbelt, sensing a plot. "Might I ask where we are going?"

"My hideout first, then you can go find Cobra Queen once we've negotiated terms of collaboration," she stated and remained silent for the rest of the trip.

F!F!F!F!

**Author's Notes**

(isn't it toyetic?) is a reference to the episode where the Freakmobile is first shown. Toyetic, according to the episode, is a word used by producers for objects put into a show for the sole value of being turned into toys.

Find Emit Nervend two times in this episode!

Free cookies to everyone who can find him. And review please!


	4. Chapter 4

CRASH!

Freakazoid rammed into the wall of the roller rink for the umpteenth time.

"Look at the little birdies. They go round and round…." he said before collapsing. Again. Steff skated over and helped him up. Again.

"Freakazoid…" she chided humorously, leading him out of the rink. "I think it's time you stopped skating for a bit."

"I'm fine really," he said, taking a step forward and falling on his face. Steff smiled and shook her head, sitting him down at a table.

"Nope, you are going to sit there until you can see straight."

"But—" a sharp look from Steff cut him off. "Alright."

"Good," Steff was rather pleased with herself. Dexter was also pleased with this, as every time Freakazoid hit a wall, he got the worst of it. The couple sat at that table for quite a while before the birds flying in circles around Freak's head finally flew away and his eyes could focus again.

"I'm better now, Steff. Let's go again!" he stood up to go back on the rink, but Steff pulled him back into his seat.

"Oh no you don't, I'm not going to be responsible for you getting brain trauma."

"Alright, Steff," he hung his head dejectedly for a moment before snapping straight up. "Want to go get calzones?" Steff hardly managed to open her mouth to answer before Freakazoid grabbed her by the arm and dashed out of the roller rink.

F!F!F!F!

It was a good plan, Cave Guy had to admit to himself as he walked down the street. Few people, if any, would notice the ruse immediately, and any necessary further information would be theirs soon enough. He turned into a jewelry store and walked up to the counter.

"Excuse me, my good man, but I would like to view some of your diamond rings." He smiled widely at the jeweler, who nearly fainted at the sight.

"Y-you're not going to rob us, are you?"

"Heavens, no!" Cave Guy answered with a nod of his hand. "I am here strictly to purchase."

"Well then," the jeweler swallowed. "What kind of rings are you interested in?"

"Gold solitaire. Use this for sizing." he pulled out a ring from one of the pouches at his belt that clearly would not fit him. The jeweler took the ring and looked at it for a moment then began pulling out various rings and settings and catalogues. Several minutes later, the jeweler entered the order information into the computer and wished Cave Guy a good day after informing him that the ring would be ready in about three days.

Cave Guy left the store a few hundred dollars short as a down payment, the rest to come when he picked up the ring. He strolled down the sidewalk, whistling to himself contentedly before slipping into the sewers to visit Audrey.

He walked down the one of the paths leading to her lair and one of her sentry snakes slithered off to announce his arrival. The cave would be rather dank and dull, except for multicolored Japanese paper lanterns hung about and a very large pile of expensive jewelry. Cobra Queen perched on a giant snake-shaped stone throne, petting one of her many snakes.

"Royce!" she jumped up, drawing out the ssssss. "I tried to get you out of jail, but I found out your bail wasss already posssted."

"Yes, a collaborator requires my services and was so kind as to post bail for them. The blue upstart that put me in there is going to pay."

"That'sssss wonderful! Who is it? Lobe? Gutierrez?"

"You won't believe this, but it's Deadpan! I didn't even know she could plot. Remember that dull woman at the Villains Convention last year that could change her appearance?"

"Oh, yessss. Her. That's quite surprisssinnnng. I didn't even think sshe was active around here. I'm sssso glad you're back." Cobra Queen fawned at Cave Guy, batting her eyelashes a little. "The ssnakessssss have been worried." To prove her point, a giant brown snake rubbed its head up against Cave Guy, who patted it fondly. From there, the conversation degraded into flattery and expressions of endearment.

F!F!F!F!

The next morning, Daphne woke up groggily, glad for the slow Saturday morning start. She sat up and stretched, then snagged a towel and some clothes. She padded down the hall to the bathroom and took a hot shower. By the time she was dressed, the aroma of breakfast wafted up the stairs from the kitchen.

"Hey, Mom," she said, sliding into her chair.

"Hi there, sweetie. What're your plans for the day? Help yourself to a muffin," her mother replied, cooking sausage.

Daphne reached for a warm muffin and cut it in half. "I'm going for a run and I'll meet up with Mandy later for a shopping trip. I'll phone home if I'm going to be late."

"'Kay hon." She placed a few sausages on her daughter's plate. "Your father is working today, so he won't be around and Billy has soccer practice, so there might not be anyone home."

"I'll remember that." Daphne buttered the inside of her muffin and began to eat it slowly, enjoying it. The first sounds of a waking Billy echoed from upstairs and soon after he trundled down, half asleep and still in his cowboy pajamas. He plopped down into his chair while his mother served him some sausage and a muffin. He mumbled something unintelligible and began to pick at his breakfast.

A minute later, Daphne rose and placed her dishes in the dishwasher and left, calling, "Be back in a few!" she jogged to the sidewalk then started running. She ran at an easy pace, not truly pushing herself, but not slow. The sun was shining and she was enjoying it. Her feet carried her over towards the school, then towards Mandy's house, then through a small park, eventually to return windingly back towards home. The cross-country team also considered her one of their better members, though after about a mile she began to slow and fall behind. She kept up a steady stream of conversation as she ran through the park with Freakazette, who honestly would have preferred to be watching Saturday morning cartoons.

That is, until she came face-to—well, not quite face, more of goo or mucus—with Booger Beast. She stopped dead in her tracks, staring up at the gelatinous oozing menace. It gargled malevolently at her and she turned and _ran_. One moment, she was there, the next, she had disappeared in a flurry of pumping arms and legs. Daphne skidded behind a tree. Not a second later Freakazette leapt out from the other side.

"Ewwwww. Watcha doin ya big oozy booger monster guy?" she grinned at it all chipper.

"I am The Booger Beast!" it growled. Zette made a face then ran at it. She ran round and round, creating an electrified funnel of air that sucked the monster into the sky and then deposited it in a pond. It made one last defeated gurgle as it dissolved away, floating downstream in a slightly yellow-green murk.

The blue heroine brushed her hands together, satisfied and, gladly, not covered in goo, "That's that, I guess." She did not notice the security camera watching her movements as she walked away.

Elsewhere, the gray woman watched the battle alongside a hooded man with one side of his face in deep shadow. Gutierrez watched the footage carefully, nodding several times to himself. The woman sat with a passive look, even when Gutierrez straightened and nodded more definitively, murmuring a soft yes.

"So can you help me?" she asked dully.

"Yes," he said. "I can help you. Her power source is the same as Freakazoid's. It would be no hard task to find out if her weakness is the same as well. A cage made of graphite bars charged with negative ions should do the trick. If not, fooling her should be easy as fooling Freakzoid was."

"Thank you."

"Anytime, er…" Gutierrez floundered, trying to place her name.

"Deadpan," she answered, and then walked away. He knew little about her other than she needed to capture this Freakazette person in whom he also took great interest. The fledging hero had caught very little press so far and the public knew almost nothing about her. This kind of hero was useless for ransom, so what could Deadpan possibly want her for? Gutierrez spun about in his wheelie chair to turn towards his computer. He slowly did a search (he really should invest in some typing classes) on Deadpan and found a little bit of information. She could accurately imitate a person by changing her features, but little else was agreed on. No one could decide whether she could also imitate voices or even powers. It was possible, but she hadn't been in the spotlight enough for anyone to tell. Few even agreed on whether she existed. Gutierrez pushed himself back from the desk and laced his fingers together.

"Well, well. What an interesting predicament." He began to chuckle, then paused when he only heard his own voice. "Laugh wi—" he stopped when he realized he was the only person there. "Right. Where was I? Oh, yes." He resumed his chuckling, unmindful of the lack of audience.

F!F!F!F!

Daphne returned home to find that her mom and brother had already left for the soccer game. She still had plenty of time before going to meet Mandy, so she went upstairs and took a shower, and then got dressed in mall clothes. The only way in which this was different from normal was that instead of light, sporty shorts and a T-shirt, she wore colored denim shorts and a nicer top. She also attempted to do something with her hair, but it insisted on standing up straight. So, in order to make it at least interesting, she swept it forward. Satisfied with her appearance, she put on her hoop earrings and grabbed her purse.

At the mall, Mandy found Daphne almost sooner she arrived. She grabbed her friend's arm and pulled her behind a fountain.

"Hey! What was that for?" Daphne asked, having been pulled into a crouch next to Mandy.

"Shhhh. We're spying on Kristi and Troy," Mandy whispered, peeking over the edge of the fountain.

"Oh." Daphne settled into better cover and followed Mandy's line of sight to the couple. They were holding hands and talking between themselves as they walked. All seemed to be going well.

"Come on!" Mandy gestured to another source of cover as their targets moved away. She and Daphne ducked low and snuck around the fountain then made a break for a display of refrigerator magnets, ducking and weaving through the crowd, keeping their eyes on Kristi and Troy. The couple was completely unaware of their trailers, as was intended. Daphne and Mandy followed them closely enough to never break eye contact, but far enough away that they couldn't hear their conversation. The two co-conspirators dodged and weaved through the Saturday crowds, taking cover behind whatever convenient objects were available. At one point they grabbed a couple of newspapers and held them over their faces as Kristi and Troy passed after coming out of a store. Kristi took a backward glance, but the two had vanished already. She silently smiled to herself knowingly, having accompanied them on more than one excursion.

"What was that?" Troy asked, seeing her expression.

"We're being followed by Mandy and Daphne," she told him quietly.

He frowned. "How are we going to lose them?"

"Like this." She grabbed his hand and darted away behind a crowd, leading him on a serpentine path through the mall, losing the duo before they even realized it. As soon as they did, they scowled good-naturedly and proceeded to get lunch at the food court's Chinese place. Mandy decided to take advantage of the moment as they sat down to their stir-fry.

"So, what do you think of Jake?" she asked, attempting to use chopsticks.

"What do you mean, what do I think of Jake?" Daphne replied, raising her eyebrow.

"Have you been paying any attention that past few days?"

"Uh, let's see…. No. A lunatic just moved into my brain and interrupts everything every few milliseconds, so I totally have been paying the utmost attention to what everyone around me has been doing."

"Harsh much?" Mandy scowled at her and tried to pick up a lump of rice with her chopsticks. Daphne didn't hear her because Freakazette was giving her a mental wet willy.

"Was that necessary?" she snapped at 'Zette, and deeply confused Mandy.

"What did I do?" she asked incredulously.

"Gah. Nothing. Not you. Her." Somehow the two alter egos managed to get into a wrestling match and it was making communicating very difficult. It was also accompanied with some very strange facial expressions.

"Well stop it. You look nuts."

"I wonder why." Freakazette got distracted and Daphne could talk again. Mandy picked this up and rolled right back into the previous topic.

"Jake. Opinions. Now," she demanded, holding her hand out to receive.

"Uh, well…. I guess he's cute." Daphne took a bite of her lunch.

"You guess. You GUESS? Really Daphne, I expected better than this from you. Last week you could have rattled off an entire list of his pros and cons and now you can't even be sure of one thing? I'm hurt." Mandy clenched a fist to her sternum and bowed her head with a sigh.

"Alright, I get it. He's always seemed pretty nice. And I supposed that I had been noticing him quite a bit more recently…"

"I suppose it's a start. He has a nice chest," she baited her friend not so subtly. Daphne nodded in agreement.

"True…" she trailed off into thought, and Mandy let the topic slip, satisfied with her small victory. Another small nudge with Jake and her work would be finished. Kristi and Troy obviously had things under control. Everything should be coming together by the track meet on Monday.

**Author's Notes**

Finally got over a massive case of writer's block, though reviews would definitely help. The next chapter will have more of Freakazoid and Mandy's nefarious plotting.


End file.
